Household saving is defined as the difference between a household’s disposable income (wages, income of the self-employed and net property income) and its consumption (expenditures on goods and services.)

U.S. Stocks Slip After Recent Rally

Advertisement

The stock market's election-week rally stalled Friday, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained on track for its best week in nearly five years.

The blue-chip index recently fell 62 points, or 0.3%, to 18746. Its weekly gains are roughly 5%, which would be its biggest jump since December 2011.

Industrial companies and banks have led the surge in recent sessions, as investors poured money into stocks they believe could benefit from possible increased government spending, decreased regulation and a pickup in inflation under a Trump administration.

Industrial companies in the S&P 500 are up around 7% so far this week, while the financial sector is up 10%.Biotechnology companies also jumped as some analysts and investors said drug-pricing restrictions would have been more likely under Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Nasdaq Biotechnology index slipped 1.7% Friday but was on track for a weekly gain of 13%, its biggest since 2001.

At the same time, money rotated out of some of the biggest market winners since the financial crisis, including some technology companies and government bonds. These assets have benefited in a world flush with monetary easing but struggling with weak economic growth.

Shares of Amazon.com, Google parent Alphabet and Facebook -- some of the most popular stocks in recent years -- are all down this week, despite the broader market's steep rise.

U.S. bond markets were closed for Veterans Day, but the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.118% Thursday in its largest four-day yield gain since June 2013. Yields rise when prices fall.

Some analysts said while the election of Donald Trump this week invigorated this rotation, the shift had already started in recent weeks.

Data released late October showed core inflation reached a two-year high in the third quarter.

Similarly, even before Mr. Trump's election, there were discussions among politicians around the world about the potential of using fiscal policy -- instead of monetary -- to spark economic growth.

Some analysts said that while Mr. Trump hasn't unveiled specific policies addressing plans for fiscal stimulus, investors were still betting that Republican control of the White House and Congress meant some form of government infrastructure spending would pass.

"People are looking at Trump and weighing the two sides of him, and they have inflation in common," said Mr. Leung. He has the "protectionist, antitrade, immigration control side, which could on its own increase inflation. On the other side he has control of Congress, so he has a lot of leeway to cut taxes and implement infrastructure spending."

"For now, the market is pricing in at least a little bit of fiscal stimulus," he added.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5% Friday and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.2%. Both indexes were on track to rise roughly 3% this week.